Adult follicle mites, Demodex, are only 0.3 mm long and are very thin. They live in the follicles and sebaceous glands of hairs. They only become troublesome when there are many of them. We do not know what they feed on. Some believe that they eat oils from the skin (sebum) or eat bacteria (especially staphylococci) on the skin. A third possibility is that they eat the cells that are found inside the hair follicle. Follicle mites are found in a variety of mammals. The mites are species specific and only infect the same kind of host animal.
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